Check the main body BCM in the right hand kick panel for water ingress through the plug, My sons car exibited exactly the same symtoms and thats what we found. Had to fit a new BCM as it shorted internaly and would not recover. $500 plus programing at the dealer. These are chassis specific and coded to the car and a used one will not work I know I tried wasted $200 on a used one....................

Thanks for the info guys! 

I had read about te battery being a issue. Date on it puts it only 8 months old.

flood line is a great idea! 

Took it to a friends shop and tried to plug it 

in and it would not link up to the scanner at all! 

Thought it might give us a starting point to look. 

+1 to Jeff and the battery replacement. Worked for me ...

Could this be a 'flood damaged' MINI?  Try removing a lower interior body panel or two to see if you find a 'water line'....  water in gauges can be condensation from flood damage....

ken

I can't help with your specific problem, but I can offer this anecdote:

 

I had a First Gen BINI S that had the typical power steering pump problem. I replaced the electric power steering with a used unit. Everything was fine for over a year and a half. The DAY AFTER I sold it, the new owner reported the car would NOT turn off. In fact, he'd just returned from DMV and title transfer and pullled into his parking spot and car wouldn't cut off. He had to kill it with the clutch and then disconnect the battery because dash wouldn't go dark. I had it towed using my AAA to a garage and ended up paying for the (discounted) repair. They spent hours chasing what could be the problem, to no avail. Then they just started unplugging electrical components one at a time to see what was the culprit... Lo and behold-- it was the power steering pump. It was somehow back-feeding power into the circuit/loom and keeping it alive.

 

In sum, maybe start unplugging things (or pulling fuses) to isolate where the problem could be.

Replace the battery first, this is a problem in minis the bus systems are very sensitive to voltage. An aging battery that seems to work fine can cause all sorts of trouble. This is often mis diagnosed it may not be your problem but is a good place to start, remove it as a possibility. I have seen more than one dealer go so far as replacing a auto transmission over a bad battery. Another area of concern is to make sure the alternator is putting out only dc. After that it gets a little harder to diagnose could be a bus problem, BCM, grounds, switch itself.

Jeff

yea I hate electrical! 

Got to work on it a little today. I noticed a few water drop marks inside the tach glass, and at the bottom of the plastic under the colum.

I assume some one left the window down in the rain at some point. I unplugged all the plugs in the coulum and has no change.

the only odd thing I found is that if I double click the start button with out the key the wipers come on and headlights ? 

If there is evidence of 'mouse damage', I would suspect further damage elsewhere causing continued issues.  Electrical problems are very difficult to trace...

Perhaps salt water corrosion from salted roads in the winter or ocean air?  Maybe a bad ground somewhere?

Too difficult to diagnose remotely. 

Ken

I'll try and keep this short...

 

Got the Mini a month ago and right after I got it the 

wipers wouldn't shut off and all the warning lights came on, windows wouldn't work...

After disconeciting the battery a couple times and removing the wiper fuse it went back to

normal. 

I I found that some one had repaired some wires to the left headlight that a mouse had ate with blue butt connectors!! I removed all the mess and soldered all connections and shrank wrap. 

I looked over the entire area for a hour looking for any other wires that might be bad but the harness was clean. 

Every thing was good for a month, now it's doing it again and making the car run rough. 

It had been dry and hot for two days when it happenEd so I don't think it's moisture related? 

Im going to look more at the wiring when I have time. 

 

I havnt been able to find much info online about any one else having this issue. 

 

Any ideas other than the wiring?  

Thanks, Tim